What is this book about? If you′ve installed Linux, or have access to a version of UNIX, you′ve probably gotten used to the environment and its configuration, but if you want to start programming, most Linux books leave you on your own. This book takes off where they stop, showing you how to make the most of the tools UNIX offers (which are included as standard with any distribution of Linux) and start programming UNIX for real.
Beginning Linux Programming, 2nd Edition, concentrates on C programming, looking at the GNU tools, and the UNIX C libraries, to teach you step by step how to write, build, and debug serious application code. Throughout the book, you develop a fully featured CD Database application, allowing you to see the theory of each new topic applied to a real application. As well as handling basic file operations, input and output and dealing with the way UNIX handles data, you discover such advanced topics as inter–process communication, networking, and using CGI scripting to build a Web interface all the elements of client–server programming. You are also introduced the GTK+ and you find out how to build rich graphical user interfaces for X with GNOME. Finally, there′s an introduction to device drivers, to give you a window into the way the Linux kernel itself works.
You′ll also learn shell scripting for BASH, as well as two more powerful scripting languages Tcl and Perl.
What does this book cover?
- The Perl language
- Programmming for GNOME(TM)
- POSIX(r) threads
- Kernel(r) programming
- Latest Linux kernel, current tools and C libraries
Who is this book for?
You need to be comfortable with the basics of using Linux, with a good working knowledge of how to use and configure your system. You should also know some simple C. If you′re familiar with basic programming concepts, the working examples in the book will soon give you the confidence to explore Linux′s C libraries.
You′ll find the programming tools used in this book are included with virtually any Linux distribution, so this book is all you need to get started as a Linux programmer.
At nearly 900 pages
Beginning Linux Programming covers a lot of ground. It assumes some knowledge of C and C++ programming and an understanding of how a Linux system is set up--but you don't need to be a programmer to benefit. It's firmly Gnu-based, so KDE and Qt aren't covered.
Beginning Linux Programming starts with a look at shared libraries(the equivalent of DLLs in Windows), an overview of the Linux programming options and then moves on to a hands-on example of an audio CD database. Throughout, Beginning Linux Programming is determinedly hands- on. After a stroll through the basics of shell programming, the first version of the CD database is written entirely using a Bash shell script; then rewritten in C, yet again to make use of the ncurses text handling library, and finally to use the dbm database. Threads and a client/server version of the program are also covered. The book then moves on to Tcl/Tk for window management and writing a graphical Gnome app using GTK+. HTML, CGI and Perl get an airing after which the reader is considered knowledgeable enough to tackle device drivers and the kernel. Whether you just want to knock out a few scripts or make major contributions to Gnu/Linux Beginning Linuxis, in this reviewer's opinion, indispensable. --Steve Patient
